Winemaker Notes
Pair this Cabernet with red meats like steak or lamb, demi-glace sauces, or with Steak Frites for a simple bistro-style meal.
Blend: 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Compared with the 2016, the 2017 Catena Cabernet Sauvignon feels a little riper within its fresh style, with moderate alcohol and good acidity. This always contains small percentages of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and it matured in oak barrels for 12 months. Notes of iron and fresh blood developed with time in the glass. 240,000 bottles produced.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
By far the largest and best-known winemaking province in Argentina, Mendoza is responsible for over 70% of the country’s enological output. Set in the eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains, the climate is dry and continental, presenting relatively few challenges for viticulturists during the growing season. Mendoza, divided into several distinctive sub-regions, including Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, is the source of some of the country’s finest wines.
For many wine lovers, Mendoza is practically synonymous with Malbec. Originally a Bordelaise variety brought to Argentina by the French in the mid-1800s, here it found success and renown that it never knew in its homeland where a finicky climate gives mixed results. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Pinot Noir are all widely planted here as well (and sometimes even blended with each other or Malbec). Mendoza's main white varieties include Chardonnay, Torrontés, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.